Posts Tagged: officials

News

Rod Wright resigns Senate seat

Sen. Rod Wright, D-Inglewood, at a sentencing hearing last week in Los Angeles. (Photo: Associated Press)

State Sen. Rod Wright, who began his state political career nearly two decades ago and rose to chair the powerful Senate committee that targets alcohol and gambling, resigned from the Senate Monday effective Sept. 22, just days after he was sentenced for voter fraud and perjury.

News

Camp 4: Tribal land plan stirs intense dispute

A view of the 1,400-acre Camp 4 parcel in Santa Barbara County. (Photo: Bill Macfayden, Noozhawk)

More than four years after obtaining a broad swath of undeveloped land in rural Santa Barbara County, a local Indian tribe has little to show for it. Development of the property has been stalled by an ongoing and rapidly escalating conflict between tribal authorities, county supervisors and local residents, and the dispute is spilling over into the realms of state and federal agencies.

News

Proposed initiative targets ‘dark money’

The state’s elections officer on Tuesday cleared the way for the measure’s backers, led by organized labor, to circulate petitions for signatures of registered voters. The proposal needs the signatures of 504,760 voters to qualify for the November ballot. The deadline to submit the signatures to election officials is July 10

News

Vaccination effort, ‘religious exemption’ at odds

Regulations implementing a new California law aimed at reducing the number of unvaccinated youngsters attending school may do just the opposite. A 2012 bill, which took effect Jan. 1, requires parents seeking an exemption from vaccinations against diseases like measles and whooping cough, to first talk with a health care provider about the risks and benefits of vaccines.

News

Lawmakers eye NSA’s conduct

A former military prosecutor, a Democrat, and a conservative San Diego-area, a Republican, are jointly authoring legislation that would bar the state — and private companies that do business with the state, including utilities — from helping the NSA collect so-called “metadata” or electronic data on Californians without a warrant.

News

Pension flap imperils transportation funding

Local transportation officials across California are not happy: The feds, weighing in on a public pension dispute, are holding back billions of dollars. That means trains may not run on time, buses may not get bought or fixed and projects may not get built. And that could translate into a lot of unhappy passengers.

News

CDCR: Hunger strike involves about 12,400 inmates

State prison officials say some 12,400 California inmates at more than two dozen prisons are participating in a hunger strike to protest conditions behind bars.

The tally provided by the Corrections Department is less than half the amount – 29,000 to 30,000 – that has been cited in published reports of inmates as participating in

News

After 60 years, Brown Act remains under fire

State elected officials often voice their support for open, accessible government. But they also, with few dissenting votes, recently approved legislation that would allow the governor to meet secretly with local legislative bodies.

 

“The question here should be why can the attorney general, district attorney or chief of police be allowed to have closed

News

CalPERS may have legal edge in fight with San Bernardino

RIVERSIDE — A federal judge last week rejected a CalPERS request to sue bankrupt San Bernardino for a growing unpaid bill, but gave preliminary support to the argument that the bill must be paid in full before the city can leave bankruptcy.

 

The widely watched question of whether the bankruptcy will reduce pensions promised

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